Philo of Alexandria - Books and Journals

critical studies 2002 225
of terminology, i.e. a Greek term is used but its content is Jewish. It is proven
that this is not the case by noting that Philo relates the concept of εδαιμνία
to God, which does not take place in the Bible at all. In the final section the
question is raised why Philo is so attracted to the themes of excellence (ρετή)
and well-being (εδαιμνία). It is concluded that they help him bridge the gap
between his loyalty to Judaism and his situation as an intellectual in Alexandria.
(DTR)
20282. D. T. Runia, ‘One of Us or One of Them? Christian Reception
of Philo the Jew in Egypt,’ in J. L. Kugel (ed.), Shem in the Tents of Japheth:
Essays on the Encounter of Judaism and Hellenism, Supplements to the
Journal for the Study of Judaism 74 (Leiden 2002) 203–222.
The starting-point for the article is the discovery of three significant Philonic
papyri in Egypt, the Coptos codex, the Oxyrhynchus codex and a small papyrus
fragment published in 1994. All three are definitely of Christian provenance.
The paper falls into four parts. In the first part a brief account is given of Philo’s
survival in Egypt (including Alexandria). Thereafter the article concentrates on
two test cases, the use of Philo by Didymus the Blind and Isidore of Pelusium.
On this basis some conclusions are reached in the final section. Philo’s greatest
value to Christians in Egypt was the contribution he could make to biblical
interpretation. Up to the 4th century there was no reason to emphasize that Philo
was a Jew. He was ‘one of us’. During the 4th century this tacit acceptance starts to
change and it may be concluded that he begins to become ‘one of them’, albeit as
aspecialcase.Withregardtothepapyri,however,itisquitepossiblethattheir
owners simply regarded their author as a Christian interpreter, i.e. ‘one of us’.
(DTR)
20283. D. T. Runia, ‘Philo of Alexandria and the End of Hellenistic
Theology,’ in A. Laks and D. Frede (edd.), Traditions of Theology: Studies
in Hellenistic Theology, Its Background and Aftermath,PhilosophiaAntiqua
89 (Leiden 2002) 281–316.
The article is the final one in a collection of nine papers presented at the 8th
Symposium Hellenisticum held in Lille in the summer of 1998. Its basic thesis
is that Philo’s theology is a witness to the end of Hellenistic theology and the
beginning of a new theology that would dominate philosophy until the end of
antiquity. It begins with two texts in the doxographer Aëtius and the sceptic
Sextus Empiricus which, it is argued, are typical of Hellenistic theology. They
are confident and direct in their approach to the question of the divine nature. It
either exists or it does not exist. The evidence of Philo is then called in. The paper
concentrates on texts from the Exposition of the Law, esp. Opif. 7–25, Spec. 1.32–
50 and Praem. 36–46. Through an analysis of six theological themes—the basic
division of reality, the noetic cosmos and the extended image in Opif. 17–18,
the Logos, the reception of the divine powers, existence and essence, a superior
path to knowledge—it is argued that the confident and direct epistemology of